Railroad-baggage coupon ticket



W. R. BET'HAM RAILROAD BAGGAGE COUPON TICKET Filed Jan. 22. 1923 CHlCRGOSi Prior to arr'wd hond to TICKET H9 TGKC H2 4567 'i BirminghamGEoRem-Sme RKCO. Ticket F19 4567 Palm Beach TO Jochsonvme Miami cHlpAcaoS. E. P R. Co.

at final dstnahon Coupon and BHGGAGE COUPON TmhETHe 456'r birminghamBRGGAGE COUPON C. E, R.R. CD. GEORGIA STRTE R-R. CO. lcna ne 456'/BAGGAGE amm man IN VENTR Wm. R. Bztham A TTURNEYS Patented @et Z7,1.925..

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Applicatonled January 22, 1923 Serial Np. $714,227.

To all whom t may conce/rn.'

Be it known that I, WrLLiAM R; BETHAM,

a citizen of the United States, andaresident railroad tickets, and moreparticularly to a railroad ticket having baggage coupons attachedthereto, `and it consists in the com`l` binations, constructions, andarrangements herein described and claimed.

A great dealof loss is occasioned under the present methods ot checkingbaggage due to unscrupulous employees. Thus one traveling by automobile,or persons desiring to ship merchandise and baggage to friend orassociate, by conniving with the baggage! man,` have merchandise andbaggage transported Jfree', as the public .carriers have no adequatemeans at present oi" detecting such `Fraudulent practices, and aretherefore de- Ylirauded of vast sumsof legitimate revenues. Many caseshave occurred ivhere the baggageman has been given a tip and checked atrunk or other piece of baggage to a tar distant destination While theowner travels by automobile to the same destination, thus defrauding therailroad company. In other instances, one Who is traveling on a legitLmate ticketmay lose his baggage check and the finder can claim thebaggage, since he has tlieonly thing by which toidentify it. An objectof my invention is to limit the transportation' ofr baggage topassengers actually entitled thereto;

.el further object otfniy` invention is to safe-guard and identify theovvners'ot such ba gage. i

further object of' my invention is to provide a railroad' ticket havinga' plurality of coupons, the use ot which will; form a complete Vandaccurate check, which will enable railroad companies toA obviate theVlosses mentioned above. 'i

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specilication,and the novel features otv the invention Will be particularly pointedout in the appended' claims.

My invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis applic'ati'on, in Which. i Figure 1 is a' face view oa railroadbagmy invention, vand I Figure 2 isaface View ot aclaim check to be usedin connection with 'the railroadV baggagehcoupon' ticket.

In carrying out my invention I provide a ticket. having ahead or bodyportion upon Which certain general data,such as `the name ot the` roadand instructions 'to' the conductor Iand baggageman are printed.` Thisportion contains 'the number oftthe ticket as shown at B. Attachedto theportion A; are portions C, D, E, and F, these portions constituting the:ticket proper, and being provided With data suchv as the name gagecouponticket constructed according; to f of' the road, the numberlof theticket, and

particularly the names of the stationsbe? tween which the ticket portionserves for transportation.

Attached to, and corresponding with, each ticket portion is a baggav'ecoupon portion, such as those shown at D,`E, and F. This baggage couponportion corresponds to its adjoining ticket portion, that is to say, ithas the name of the road, the number ofthe ticket, and the stationsbetween which the transportation lis intended. `Each baggage coupon has,in addition, a blank spac'eGin which is to be Written the n'umbcrotl theclaim check.

The baggage couponsare separated from their corresponding ticketportions by a perforated or scored line H, and they are separated fromeach other by similar-"perforated or scored lines K which areprolongations of the lines which sep-aratethe ticket portionsproper-trom one another.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device," theyoperation thereof may be readily understood.Y Let us assume that apassenger is" goingl from Miami, Florida,- toV14 Chicago. He buys histicket, Which is provided VWith the baggage coupons and is given a claimcheck, bearinga number, such as that 1shovvn at L`V in Vthe drawings.Thenumber Vof `the claim check is Written in the space G of the baggagecoupon C', i. e., that baggage coupon `vwhich contains the name of thedestination of the passenger. `The conductoron the' first division Willtear ott'` the portions Fand F 5, i on the second division the portionsE `and E",` and on the third division, the portions D. and D;. On thelast division the conductor will call for the passenger@ claim check.I-Ie will compare the number of the claim check with the number which iswritten in at G on the baggage coupon portion C', and if theycorrespond, he will tear ofi'I the baggage coupon C and give it to thepassenger, taking up the last ticket prtion C.

In order to get his baggage, the passenger must present his claim checkL and his baggage coupon C. It will be yseen that this will preventbaggagefrom being sent over a line which does not carry a passenger,since there will be no ticket having the baggage coupon attachedthereto.

`In case a party going from Miami to Chicago, desires to stop 01T at St.August-ine, which is not a division point named on the ticket, thebaggage claim check number and the name St Augustine will be written onthe back of the baggage-coupon E reading Palm Beach to Jacksonville. Theconductor will compare the number written on the back of saidbaggage-coupon with the number on the claim check held by the passenger,and if they correspond, will write the name St. Augustine on the back ofthe ticket portion E reading Palm Beach to Jacksonville and then handthe ticket with the baggage-coupon attached, to the passenger.

When claiming baggage at St. Augustine, the passenger will presentticket and baggage-coupon, attached, with the claim check, to thedelivery baggageman, Who will take up the claim check and recorddelivery of the baggage at St. Augustine on the back of said baggagecoupon, leaving the same attached to the ticket portion, unless thebaggage is to be rechecked beyond Jacksonville, in which case he willthen detach the baggage coupon, writing the number of the new check onthe baggage-coupon, naming the destination designated by the ticketholder. In case baggage is rechecked to Jacksonville, the number of thenew claim check will be written in the proper place provided on the faceof the baggagecoupon E reading Palm Beach to Jacksonville.

It will be understood that the conductors taking up tickets havingbaggage coupons attached thereto, but not used for checking baggage,will send the ticket portions with the baggage coupons attachedtheretoto the general ticket auditor. The baggageman at 'a stop-overpoint, as stated, will detach the coupon designating the stop-overpoint, eX- c'ept when rechecked to the division point named thereon, inwhich case only the surrendered claim check bearing the requisite datawill be sent to the general ticket auditor, as for instance, the couponE', and will l send such baggage coupon and the surrendered claim checkto the general ticket auditor.

When more than one baggage check is used, the additional check numbersand the gage coupon, naming the destination designated by theticketholder. To limit the transportation of baggage to a passenger entitledto such services, the delivery baggageman at the stop-over betweendivision points and final destination points should, when in doubt,insist upon inspecting the passengers ticket when making delivery, inaddition to compliance with the prescribed baggage coupon ticket rules.f

This ticket may also'be used inrconnection with trip and mileagetickets, and also annual and trip passes. For mileage tickets thebaggageman will write the number of the baggage check or checks on theback of the baggage coupons, also the total number of miles used and thename of the destination to which the baggage is checked. The conductorswill make use of the ticket in the manneralready described. The trippasses will have baggage `coupons attached andare subject to the sameregulations that apply to the regular passenger baggage coupon tickets.

In the case of annual passes, the name and the number of the pass holderand also the railroad must be written on the back of the claim check toenable the delivery baggageman to verify the ownership of the baggage.In this case also, the surrendered claim check must be sent to thegeneral ticket auditor. c f I It will be obvious that by the use of thisticket, the frauds which are now of such frequent occurrence will beprevented. In order for a passenger to claim his baggage he must havethe baggage coupon to present with his claim check, and such coupon ofcourse, can be only gotten by the purchase of a ticket. Anyconnivancewith the 'baggageman to forward baggage without payment to theroad, as for instance, where the passenger is going by automobile, willbe prevented. In case the claim check should be lost.` no one else canget the baggage because he will not have the baggage coupon check. Butthis will not prevent the party himself from presenting the baggagecoupon check and properly identifying Athe baggage.

In addition to preventing baggage frauds. my improved ticket preventsmisuse of tickets such as mileage tickets. If a passenger who is a goodfriend of a conductor should go on his train from Chicago to St. Louis,there is not-hing in the ordinary svstem which would prevent theconductor from tearing off twenty or thirty miles and permitting hisfriend to ride to St. Louis, the baggage havingl been previously checkedto St. Louis. In the present instance, the baggage coupon, which isnecessary for the passenger in order to obtain his baggage at St. Louis,would indicate that the passenger had gone to St. Louis, and theconductor, knowing that this would be a check upon his acts, would, ofcourse, tear oli and forward to the auditor the mileage which wouldcorrespond to the trip indicated by the baggage coupon.

While I have shown a single trip ticket, and have explained the usethereof, it will be obvious that the scope of the invention wouldinclude round trip tickets, or tickets bearing a greater or less numberof detachable portions than are given in the present illustration.

I claim:

1. A railroad ticket comprising a plurality of detachable ticketportions, each having indicia indicating transportation betweendesignated points and the serial number of the ticket, and a series ofbaggage coupons bearing the same indicia.

2. A railroad ticket comprising a plurality of detachable ticketportions, each having indicia indicating transportation betweendesignated points and the serial number of the ticket, and a series ofbaggage coupons detachably secured to said ticket portions and bearingthe same indicia as said ticket portions.

3. A railroad ticket comprising a plurality of detachable ticketportions, each having indicia indicating transportation betweendesignated points and the serial number of the ticket, and a series ofbaggage coupons equal in number to said ticket portions, each of saidbaggage coupons being detachably secured to one of said ticket portionsand bearing the same indicia as the ticket portion to which it isattached.

Lt. The combination with a baggage claim check having a serial number,of a railroad ticket comprising a plurality ci detachable ticketportions, each having indicia indicating transportation betweendesignated points and the serial number of the ticket, and a series ofbaggage coupons 5. The combination with a baggage claim check having aserial number, of a railroad ticket comprising a rectangular bodyportion, one end of said body portion constituting a ticket head, saidbody portion being divided by a weakened line extending to the oppositeend of the ticket head and having a series of transverse weakened lines,said central lines and said transverse lines dividing the body portionup into a series of rectangular areas, the areas on one side of the lineconstituting ticket portions, each having indicia indicatingtransportation between designated points and the serial number of theticket, and the areas on the opposite side of the ticket constitutingbaggage coupons, each of said baggage coupons having the same indicia asthe ticket portion on the opposite side of said central line, and beingdetachable from said ticket portion, and each of said baggage couponsbeing provided with a blank space for insertion of the claim checknumber.

WILLIAM R. BETHAM.

